#nvidia

#nvidia

It's been a tumultuous year for the U.S. semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry plays a sizable role in the "AI race" that the U.S. seems determined to win, which is why this context is worth paying attention to: from Intel's appointment of Lip-Bu Tan to CEO - who wasted no time getting to work trying to revitalize the legacy company - to Joe Biden proposing sweeping new AI chip export rules on his way out of office that never came to fruition.

Make no mistake, Nvidia delivered a fantastic number, but let's not kid ourselves: expectations were heightened going into the quarter. Though Nvidia's figures signal that the ongoing AI revolution is still alive and well, the latest round of results lacked the awe factor that may now be needed to move the needle higher on a $4.25 trillion firm that the retail sector has been buying up aggressively in recent years.

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On Wednesday, Nvidia reported record revenue of $46.7 billion during the quarter that ended on July 27 - a 56% year-over-year increase largely driven by the AI data center boom. However, subsequent reporting highlighted how much that growth seems to be coming from just a handful of customers. Specifically, Nvidia said that a single customer represented 23% of total Q2 revenue, while sales to another customer represented 16% of Q2 revenue.

NVIDIA holds a unique position in the tech universe. It is the arms merchant to the AI sector. Every company with massive AI data centers must pay NVIDIA for the chip engines that power them. If a company like Apple has an AI stumble, it has to pay NVIDIA for the hardware to catch up. And AI success stories like Microsoft's have to pay NVIDIA to maintain their position.

The S&P 500 etched its name in history yesterday, closing at a new all-time high of 6,501.86, despite investor concern about Nvidia's ( NASDAQ:NVDA ) earnings and doubts about the ongoing AI boom. It's been a rollercoaster year marked by fears of inflation, rising Treasury yields, and geopolitical tensions, yet the index has scaled a "wall of worry," defying skeptics with a 10% gain so far this year.

Nvidia posted record results for the second quarter of 2025, exceeding analysts' expectations on both revenue and profit, yet shares slipped modestly in after-hours trading as its crucial data center division narrowly missed Wall Street forecasts. Nvidia reported revenue of $46.7 billion for the second quarter, marking a 56% increase compared to the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share reached $1.05, beating analyst estimates by $0.04. Investors had extremely high expectations for Nvidia's data center division, with forecasts set at $41.3 billion.

Nvidia's earnings aren't just about Nvidia anymore. The $4 trillion chipmaker's quarterly financials have become a litmus test for the AI boom-and, by extension, for the whole stock market. Constituting 8% of the market cap-weighted in S&P 500 Index and with an unrivaled grip on the chips that power generative AI, Wall Street now treats Nvidia's results more like a macroeconomic indicator than as a report card on a single company. The earnings announcement has even become a cultural phenomenon complete with watch parties.

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This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is scheduled to give a speech at the Fed's Jackson Hole conference later Friday. Investors are all ears, and cautiously optimistic Powell might say something positive, and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ( NYSEMKT: VOO) is edging up 0.3% premarket in anticipation of that.

Nvidia's (NVDA) $4.27 trillion market cap leads the S&P 500, where the top 10 stocks account for 40% of its value. NVDA has been a primary driver of the benchmark index's gains and a drop in its stock could cause the index to tumble. Yet Nvidia's AI-driven rise reflects surging demand for its accelerators amid a concentrated market. Nvidia made early investors rich, but there is a new class of 'Next Nvidia Stocks' that could be even better.

There are now almost 500 AI unicorns - companies valued at over $1 billion - worth a total of roughly $2.7 trillion, enough to do some serious damage to the economy if things don't go well. But for investors, that cash represents a dream: that AI will someday do more than generate video essays explaining that Nubian giants built the pyramids, and become a major financial driver.

The Silicon Valley startup announced Thursday that several investors, including existing backer Baillie Gifford, added another $97 million to its Series E round. New investors include Icehouse Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Nvidia, and Pledge Ventures. Uber, which last month said it would make a "multi-hundred-million dollar" investment in Nuro as part of a broader deal with the electric car maker Lucid, also participated.